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WARNING: This is kind of a long, schizo post. I’d love for you to follow the storyline from soup to nuts, but if you just want the low-down on the review, skip to the middle. If you’re jonesing for oats, skip to the end.

I don’t know why it took me so damn long to hop on the overnight oats train {t00t t00t}. It’s no more work than fixing a bowl of cereal or assembling my beloved Greek yogs breakie. You just do it the night before — so in a sense, it’s actually easier.

Wake up.
Eat.
Dance party.

There’s no cook or prep or even that persnickety pour getting in the way of you and your first meal of the day. It’s gorgeously simple. And now I’m, like, fully onboard, sporting the conductor stripe overalls and brimmed cap and the whole nine. Hell, I AM the conductor. NEXT STOP, HAPPY-CHEWY-OATSVILLE!

Chugga chugga.

And to think, it all started with a cleanse.

A few months ago, Sambazon asked me if I’d like to try a few of their superfood products, and I was totally intrigued. It’s always a bit of a challenge determining if certain brands are a good fit for the ol’ Pig. When it comes to food, my point of view isn’t easily categorized — a little bit of clean eating, some gluten-free and paleo-minded recipes here and there, but for the most part, we just eat mindfully and choose foods that are more nourishing than they are toxic — to our bodies, our community, our environment. As such, Sambazon is totally my jam. The company is founded on seven ‘Principles of Purple Love’ — which, at first, totally just seems like codespeak for crotch-punch your copywriter — but it’s really full of just good, sunny intentions that, instead, force me into cracking a goofy smile. One that kinda creeps me out when I see it reflected in my MacBook screen.

I don’t know what upful means, but are you smiling like a creeper yet? How much do you want to just be these dudes’ friend? So much, right? Does it help that they’re surfer-hot? Should I link up a video? Nice.

Supper: a plant-based, solid food meal from the Meal Plan OR a ‘Liquid Courage’ plant-based soup from the Meal Plan

Specific recipes and Meal Plan details/alternatives are all outlined on the portion of Sambazon’s website dedicated the Cleanse, so I’ll skip over going into too much detail there.

For someone accustomed to eating a relatively healthy, plant-heavy diet, the meals are satisfying enough — and coupled with the nutrition in the beverages, it does feel like you’re consuming enough sustenance to get through the 72 hours without much in the way of cravings or real hunger. I even went so far as to choose the ‘Liquid Courage’ option for all three of my dinners, and even though the act of chewing a meal is highly underrated, it seemed to be a worthy sacrifice — giving my digestive track all those extra hours (from midday snack through breakfast the next day) to realign itself.

Now, about the Sambazon packaged Cleanse products:The packaged Cleanse is right around $15 and is available exclusively at Costco stores. Handy if you’re completely smitten with Costco, like me. It comes with three different superfood-based juices, each 33.8 fluid ounces, and a Meal Plan that guides you through recommended foods to accompany your juice diet (plus the requisite disclaimer to consult your physician before changing your diet, yadda yadda). On each package, a serving is listed as 8 ounces, but if you’re following the Cleanse, a recommended serving is 11 ounces, or about 1/3 of each snazzy TetraPak’d bottle each day.

Daily Cleanse — Acerola Cherry + Lemon + Cayenne (Prepare)Akin to a fired-up lemonade, with a fair amount of heat going down and plenty of visible cayenne drifting a bit awkwardly through the juice. Like anything even remotely tart (orange juice, strawberries), this tastes like chemical warfare in your mouth if you drink it right after brushing your teeth. So don’t do that. Otherwise, it’s totally refreshing and even a bit energizing. I definitely don’t love the added cane sugar. Coming from a company so dedicated to nutrient-dense superfoods, I’m surprised that they didn’t choose an alternative sweetener. Something with a lower glycemic index, maybe. Kind of a bummer.

Purifying Greens — Kale + Apple + Cucumber + Parsley (Eliminate)I like me a green juice and am probably more tolerant than most of bevvies that are heavy on the veggie. Even so, given this guy’s kinda swampy color, I was expecting the worst — BUT! this juice has a clean finish with only a hint of plant stuffs. And it’s the only juice in the pack without cane sugar. Instead, it’s sweetened with organic yacon syrup, which is apparently kind of a fad sweetener thanks to Dr. Oz and this study regarding its impact on weight-loss and metabolism. I dunno about all that, but it’s got good bacteria going for it, and from what I can tell, it’s decently tasty. So why doesn’t Sambazon use this product in place of cane sugar in the other drinks? Iono.

Protein Recharge — Brazil Nuts + Cashews + Cacao (Recharge)So, if you’ve read any other reviews of the Sambazon Cleanse, this guy is everyone’s fave. Hands down. It’s the equivalent of thick, rich, super silky chocolate milk with a pleasant nuttiness. And drinking an 11-ounce glass of it feels like a downright indulgence. Like, lick the glass tasty. BUT GUYS. There’s that dang cane sugar again! And carrageenan! And soy, which is a common enough allergen that it’s usually excluded from other cleanses and detox programs altogether! On an ordinary day, could I let those things slide? Totally. I mean, despite carrageenan’s pretty bad rap, I’ll admit to eating plenty of it in my lifetime: in ice cream, yogurt, even almond milk. But on a cleanse that lasts all of three days, how hard is it to buckle down and cut the (literal) crap? It’s deliciously (and I mean deliciously) disappointing.

So, what’s the verdict?I do feel lighter, energized, more refreshed! You know that sluggish, bloaty, ugggggh feeling, like a burrito from years past is spawning children in your gut? You feel me. That’s gone. And, yeah, it’s totally not the point, but I’m down a couple of pounds. (Don’t worry, I plan to change that real quick with the oversized chocolate bunny I’ve been hoarding since Easter.) And throughout the whole program, I felt full, nourished, satiated.

Would I do it again? Probably. But I’m still not loving the added sugar or the other additives that I’m confident the superfood-loving Sambazon team could have gone without. At the $15 price point — which is totally affordable compared to some of the trendier fresh juice cleanses out there — maybe it’s a matter of cost. Who knows. I know it’d be enough to turn a few of my fellow bloggers off completely, but if you can get past those items, the program as a whole is thoughtfully designed, simple to follow and, in my experience, effective.

PLUS it turned me on to overnight oats.
Speaking of which…

While this is not the exact recipe printed in the Sambazon Meal Plan, the Cleanse was totally the catalyst for my newfound obsession. These oats are chewy, creamy and totally satisfying. And you can dress them up any number of ways. Here, I’ve topped them with summery white peaches, sweet raw almonds, a drizzle of maple and a dusting of coconut. But berries, kiwi, bananas, granola, cacao nibs, hemp hearts, flax, whatever’s clever. It’s all good here.

And did I mention the whole overnight thing means instant oats-to-face in the morning? Oh, I did? Ok, nice.
ALL ABOARD!

Add all oatmeal ingredients to a jar or small bowl and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, drizzle with maple syrup and top with peaches, almonds and coconut. Enjoy!

Disclosure: I received complimentary product from Sambazon for recipe development and testing. As always, any opinions expressed across the site, be they negative or positive, are 100% my own.

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